The “long hair, don’t care” duo are taking home $250,000, a pair of Chevy Silverado High Country editions, free gas for life at Petro-Canada and 10 round-trips for two in business class anywhere Air Canada flies over the course of a year for their efforts over the 40,000 kilometres of the Race. Sweet!

Feeling less chill, however, are frontrunners Meaghan Mikkelson and Natalie Spooner, the Olympians who took seven of the 11 legs on the Race leading up to the final. Talk about a silver-medal letdown. (Don’t feel too bad, though: they pulled in a trip for two with each of those wins, plus a total of $20,000 in cash.)

Mickey and Pete and Natalie and Meaghan race to the first challenge on The Amazing Race Canada.

But how in the name of Cher did the laid-back brahs — who never won a leg — take the loot over the always-on Golden Girls? Coming in from New Brunswick, the three teams are even at the Ottawa airport. But a bad cab takes Rob Goddard and Ryan Steele to the boonies, dropping them from first to a distant third. The Golden Girls and The Dudes are neck-and-neck going into the first challenge: kayaking down the Ottawa River to Parliament Hill.

Mickey and Pete take the lead early on the season finale of The Amazing Race Canada.

Here’s a fun fact to add to The Dudes’ file: Pete is a river-raft guide. Score! The Dudes deke out the GGs at the starting line, putting their craft in the water first. Factor in Meaghan’s bum hand (she broke it in the Sochi Olympics) and The Dudes paddle their way into the lead.

And they hold onto it during the next challenge, when teams scour Hansard (the records of all debates that have taken place in the House of Commons) for a specific date in the Speaker’s office. Although they’re in the correct spot alongside Mickey and Pete, the Golden Girls leave, trying to find the “right” office.

Natalie and Meaghan scour Hansard during the final leg of the Race.

“The Speaker’s office is like a big thing where you say, ‘Hello Speaker, hello Speaker! Today in the news,’ ” Natalie babbles. Instead, they end up in the library. “This is where you go to give the answer. Oh God,” Meaghan realizes.

After Mickey and Pete give the librarian the right answer, they cab it to the Diefenbunker. Teams search the underground 200,000-square-foot Cold War relic for hidden miniature military vehicles. Pete runs in circles, as does Nat (who had cab trouble on the way over), but Rob makes up major time, finishing the task mere minutes after Spooner.

Pete finds his third miniature during the Road Block in the Diefenbunker.

Next up: the Canadian Museum of Nature, where one team member must complete the final Road Block. After donning a harness, they clamber 20 metres up a rope using ascending tools to grab their final clue, and then traverse across the museum’s atrium. “Hopefully we can have another comeback today. Don’t count us out until there’s three and a half minutes left,” Natalie says in the cab, referring to Canada’s OT goal that won them gold. “Or 56 seconds,” Meaghan adds.

MIckey, left, and Pete are more than happy with their cabbie on the season finale of The Amazing Race Canada.

But Mickey finishes just as the GGs arrive, and Ryan and Rob pull up not too long after the Olympians get there. Meaghan’s hand has swollen up “like a balloon” and she’s in obvious pain, but she powers through.

The teams race to the National Gallery of Canada for one last puzzle. They must correctly place 36 paintings of places they visited on the Race in the order they occurred on each leg. Mickey and Pete have what looks to be a sizeable lead, but the Golden Girls make up time. Rob and Ryan are in the hunt as well, as all three teams have their pictures in place, just not in the right order.

The Golden Girls and The Dudes work on the final challenge on The Amazing Race Canada.

But the Long Hairs are first out the door and on their way to the Governor General’s digs, aided by their trusty cab driver, Tony. The GGs are hot on their heels, after switching out the very same painting that stalled Mickey and Pete.

On the grounds of Rideau Hall, The Dudes are cheered on by the nine eliminated teams and host Jon Montgomery as they race to the mat. And they drop trou as soon as they get there. (Likely the first time that’s happened at a garden party at the residence, as is Mick’s nip slip running through the doors.)

“I’m no tgoing back to the oil rigs,” Mickey promises, and Pete says, “My life is headed in a completely different direction now.”

Recap: The second season finale of The Amazing Race Canada aired Sunday night on CTV.

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-and-the-winners-of-the-amazing-race-canada-2-are/feed0w-nat and mickeyrmylesMickey and Pete and Natalie and Meaghan race to the first challenge on The Amazing Race Canada.Mickey and Pete take the lead early on the season finale of The Amazing Race Canada.Natalie and Meaghan scour Hansard during the final leg of the Race.Pete finds his third miniature during the Road Block in the Diefenbunker.MIckey, left, and Pete are more than happy with their cabbie on the season finale of The Amazing Race Canada.The Golden Girls and The Dudes work on the final challenge on The Amazing Race Canada.Ruth Myles: Penalty leaves one team seeing red on The Amazing Canadahttp://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-penalty-leaves-one-team-seeing-red-on-the-amazing-canada
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-penalty-leaves-one-team-seeing-red-on-the-amazing-canada#commentsWed, 17 Sep 2014 02:30:25 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=86419]]>For all their reliance on T&A, the pettiness of human nature and the general demise of civilized behaviour, the Reality-TV Gods rely on some old-fashioned notions. For instance, a villain will rarely win (even if they’ve played head and shoulders above their competitors, a la Russell Hantz on Survivor), the good guys come out on top and those that tempt fate — “We have it in the bag!” — will be punished for their hubris.

That last one came back to bite Sukhi and Jinder in the butt as the two siblings from small-town B.C. were eliminated in the penultimate episode of Season 2 of The Amazing Race Canada. Remember last week when Jinder crowed “It just shows that we’re the best!”? Not so much. The brother-and-sister team is out of the running for the $500,000 worth of cash and prizes that come with winning the season. This undoubtedly led to some celebrating among a certain percentage (100, say?) of viewers.

Sukhi makes her left turn of doom.

But how did the mighty fall, coming off two back-to-back wins? Well, running a red light is a good place to start. Sukhi’s massively obvious breaking of the rules — “This is a red light,” she says before blowing through it with a left turn – results in a 15-minute penalty at the start of the leg, when the teams are heading across the Confederation Bridge from P.E.I. to New Brunswick.

This means Natalie and Meaghan and Mickey and Pete move into first and second respectively, and hold tight to those positions throughout the leg. Rob and Ryan make the most of the siblings’ errors (they also get lost during the day’s adventures) and make a power move to assume third place. After all, the only leg you have to win is the last one, and the bartenders from Vancouver know it.

Pete and Mickey contemplate a career change.

After breezing through an easy-peasy challenge at the local DQ in Shediac (Turtle Blizzards for all my friends!), the competitors jam up at the Detour, with all four teams choosing the By Sea challenge. Each team must locate Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy and drive there. Then, they must correctly run up nautical flags to spell out seven universal nautical messages. “I hope the signalling thing isn’t too hard,” Meaghan says. Pete, for his part, muses, “I think the sea one might be quicker.”

Of course, these statements tempt the Reality TV Gods, who promptly shower their wrath down on the racers. With more than 100 flags to choose from, the teams are quickly confused. Even more befuddled, however, are Jinder and Sukhi. But why? They rock in memory challenges, right? Maybe, but they need their clue to lay out what they’re supposed to do.

The judge looks on while Jinder and Sukhi attempt the flag challenge.

And it’s nowhere to be found, despite Jinder having it in his hand on the way down to the beach. Mickey and Pete feign losing their clue, too, when the sibs ask them to share, while Ryan and Rob just give the desperate siblings a raised eyebrow and a no. (Methinks a “bitch, please!” would have been more suitable. After all, Sukhi and Jinder U-Turned the West End Boys on the Paris leg.)

Despite the trickery Sukhi and Jinder tried to pull in P.E.I. (waving their arms in the wrong direction to misdirect the Golden Girls), Meaghan shares her clue with her competition. “We want to win the Race, but we want to compete fairly,” Meaghan says. “So I decide to hand over the clue.”

On the beach, Sukhi and Jinder thank her profusely. (You might have missed that if you were yelling at the TV like I was. Just sayin’.) “I don’t know if I should have done that,” Meaghan says as she walks away. But the Reality TV Gods giveth, too, and deign to smile upon her and Natalie, just as they’re about to give up on the flags and switch challenges.

Spooner roots around in the flag box for the clue to take the other Detour challenge. Instead, though, she comes up with a flag that looks an awful lot like one that’s already hoisted on their line. Hold up! Could this be the reason they’ve failed inspection 11 times? They switch out the striped yellow-blue flag for the striped blue-yellow flag and presto! Task completed!

Mickey and Pete soon make the same realization and are on their way to the next challenge, vowing to put the “fun back into Fundy!” Before leaving, though, they give a heads up to Ryan and Rob to pay closer attention to the flags. This gives the West End Boys enough of a hint that it only takes them two more tries to finish the job. (They end up changing the 20-square white-and-blue flag for the 16-square white-and-blue flag. Sillies!)

Ryan gets his legs under him on The Amazing Race Canada.

At Enrage Bay, teams face a Road Block: one team member must rappel down an impressive cliff face (retrieving half a clue on the way down), run across a rocky beach and then rock climb up another cliff (nabbing the other half of the clue near the top). Meaghan is about half-way through when Mickey starts down. He makes good time, and the Bros catch up to the girls at the next task.

But the Golden Girls’ lead holds, despite some bobbles properly getting into the harnesses needed to zipline to the Pit Stop. The Olympians take home two tickets to the U.S. on Air Canada and $5,000. It’s the seventh leg they’ve won and they’re looking good going into Sunday’s finale. (But the promo for the final leg in Ottawa highlights Meaghan’s difficulties with her injured hand so we’ll see.)

Sukhi makes her way up the cliff on The Amazing Race Canada.

Mickey and Pete nail second and are pretty stoked about it. “Oh man, I never would have bet on us,” Mickey says to host Jon Montgomery on the mat. “We are the real deal, if we run this race like we run our lives, we’ll come out ahead,” Mickey says. And they’re not too shabby in the stats, either: they have “podiumed” in the top 3 on seven of the 11 legs.

As for Ryan and Rob, they’re the Walking Dead of the show. They’ve come in last on two legs (non-eliminations both) and survived being U-Turned. Doesn’t matter: they’re still going to the finale. “It’s pretty miraculous that you’re here; I’m not going to lie,” Jon tells them.

Sukhi and Jinder learn they’ve been eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada.

As for Sukhi and Jinder, the siblings tell each other how proud they are of each other and that they wouldn’t run the Race with anyone else. And it’s been a life-changing event for them, Jinder says.
“Once you feel like life can be like, you don’t want it to end.”

So, what did you think? Are you happy with the final three teams? Was the 15-minute penalty for driving through a red light overly harsh or fair? Who do you think will cross the finish line first on Sunday night’s finale? Share your thoughts below, and I’ll catch up with you Wednesday morning with Sukhi and Jinder’s exit interview.

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-penalty-leaves-one-team-seeing-red-on-the-amazing-canada/feed0w-Natalie at Flag Challenge horizrmylesSukhi makes her left turn of doom.Pete and Mickey contemplate a career change.The judge looks on while Jinder and Sukhi attempt the flag challenge.Behold! The magical flag that solves Meaghan and Natalie's challenge woes.Ryan gets his legs under him on The Amazing Race Canada.Sukhi makes her way up the cliff on The Amazing Race Canada.Sukhi and Jinder learn they've been eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada.Ruth Myles: Teams get down and dirty on the Charlottetown leg of The Amazing Race Canadahttp://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-teams-get-down-and-dirty-on-the-charlottetown-leg-of-the-amazing-race-canada
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-teams-get-down-and-dirty-on-the-charlottetown-leg-of-the-amazing-race-canada#commentsWed, 10 Sep 2014 02:30:44 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=86253]]>In addition to the usual corporate sponsors, this week’s edition of The Amazing Race Canada is brought to us courtesy of a 10-year-old boy’s sense of humour. How else to explain Rob and Ryan digging through a towering pile of steaming horse poop, Sukhi making a big Dickey joke and Pete goosing Mickey with a crop while his BFF pulls him along in a harness race?

That being said, it’s a pretty enjoyable episode. (Granted, I am the mother of a 10-year-old boy, so have become worn down by endless scatological references.) What wasn’t so much fun? The teams evened out once again, courtesy of a flight from Montreal to Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Mickey and Pete pass Meaghan and Natalie on the inside during a challenge in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

That meant the West End Boys were level with the other four teams, despite finishing more than three hours behind first-place finishers Sukhi and Jinder in the last leg in Montreal. But as host Jon Montgomery points out once again, teams don’t have to finish first, they just can’t finish last. (Tell that to Rob and Ryan, who have trailed the field on TWO non-elimination legs, a la first-season winners Tim Hague Sr. and Jr.)

Once teams land in Charlottetown, they stay in pack formation at the first challenge. One team member must pull the other in a sulky twice around the local race track. Despite their Olympic medals, Meaghan and Natalie are shown up by Mickey and Pete, who move from fourth to first. (Viewers learn yet another nugget of info on Mickey to add to the treasure trove of things we didn’t know about him: in addition to be an accountant and wicked good at braiding, Mickey was a high-school track star.)

Duuude! Pete realizes he memorized the wrong names at the Road Block.

For all their athleticism, Alain and Audrey are at the back of the pack coming into the Road Block at the next stop, Province House. In the Road Block, one competitor from each team must walk the grounds of the building where the Charlottetown Conference took place in 1864. They quiz actors done up in period garb about which of their friends and family are delegates to the event that led to the founding of our nation.

Once they think they have it down, they go into the conference room in the building where the event took place and identify 10 of Canada’s founding fathers via the clues. Pete, bless his little hippie heart, thinks he has to identify the characters on the grounds. “There are people walking around and I’m, ‘Oh, I just have to memorize their names. This is easy!’” he sheepishly admits to the camera. Not!

Meaghan, right, realizes she’s been hearing “Tupper” as “Tapper” during a challenge.

But that’s okay, Pete. Your closest competitor, Meaghan, mishears “Tupper” as “Tapper,” and doesn’t realize her mistake until all the other teams have completed the task. Sukhi whips through it in two tries, using a blend of memory techniques to nail the challenge. “I have a cousin named George. I’m brown. He’s brown. We’re brown. George Brown.” And then “Robert B. Dickey: I imagined he had a big . . .” G-rated show! G-rated show!

Appropriate for 10-year-old ears or not, Sukhi’s memorization technique propels her and Jinder to the lead coming into the Detour. Teams must pick Mussels (locate an aqua-culture farm, then strip 1,800 pounds of cultured blue mussels off the ropes they’re grown on) or Mass (accurately calculate the weight of more than 10 million russet potatoes).

Yes, that is steam coming off the pile of horse poop.

Before Rob and Ryan can choose, however, they have to complete what’s got to be the stinkiest Speed Bump in the history of The Amazing Race. The pair must dig three bottles of moonshine from a traditional hiding spot: a shoulder-high spread of steaming horse manure. Between this and the mussels, sooooo glad this show’s not in Smell-O-Vision.

Sukhi keeps an eye on the Golden Girls’ progress during the mussels challenge.

While it takes the lads longer to locate the hooch than they thought it should, all the other teams are still arm-pit deep in bivalves when they arrive at the mussels farm. While Natalie and Meaghan power through the processing, Sukhi and Jinder finish just in front of them. When the siblings stop to ask for directions, the Golden Girls pause on the road near where they’re parked. Sukhi and Jinder start pointing in the wrong direction, hoping to misdirect their opponents, but as Meaghan says, “Mama didn’t raise no fool” as she turns in the correct direction.

Jinder and Sukhi try to mislead Natalie and Meaghan.

The two teams pull into the Pit Stop neck in neck, yet somehow Sukhi and Jinder make it to the mat first, just barely. “Sukhi and Jinder, you guys are awfully dirty!” Jon says in welcome. (Having been on the road with the show, I know that the production crew constantly updates each other via an ongoing group chat, so methinks that wording was deliberate. Snap!)

So, body language or what?

The pair wins a trip for two anywhere in Canada Air Canada flies and $5,000. Jon asks Meaghan what’s up, and she says, “I just think there is a right way to win and there is a wrong way to win.” Jinder puts it down to sour grapes: “They’re just mad because they’re second.”

And in a post-mat interview, he tells the camera, “It just shows that we’re the best.” Uh, no. It shows you won this leg. Plus, the Golden Girls say they are now gunning for the siblings, so that should make the next leg in New Brunswick extra interesting.

Alain and Audrey learn they’ve been eliminated.

But Alain and Audrey won’t be along to watch. The newly engaged couple (hey, they’ll always have Paris, right?) from Montreal slip from fourth to fifth in the mussels challenge and can’t catch up to Rob and Ryan. They’re okay with it, though. As Audrey says, “We didn’t win the grand prize, but we got our own grand prize.”

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-teams-get-down-and-dirty-on-the-charlottetown-leg-of-the-amazing-race-canada/feed0w-Ryan-and-Rob-at-Speed-Bump-2rmylesMickey and Pete pass Meaghan and Natalie on the inside during a challenge in Charlottetown, P.E.I.Duuude! Pete realizes he memorized the wrong names at the Road Block.Meaghan, right, realizes she's been hearing "Tupper" as "Tapper" during a challenge.Yes, that is steam coming off the pile of horse poop.Sukhi keeps an eye on the Golden Girls' progress during the mussels challenge. Jinder and Sukhi try to mislead Natalie and Meaghan. So, body language or what?Alain and Audrey learn they've been eliminated. Ruth Myles: Sukhi and Jinder get naked on The Amazing Race Canadahttp://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-sukhi-and-jinder-get-naked-on-the-amazing-race-canada
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-sukhi-and-jinder-get-naked-on-the-amazing-race-canada#commentsWed, 03 Sep 2014 02:10:29 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=85900]]>Well, I didn’t see that one coming. (And no, not talking about Sukhi and Jinder posing in the altogether.)

For the third time this season, the last team to the mat on The Amazing Race Canada learns that it’s a non-elimination leg, so their Race is still on. And with the finish line in sight, the duos are putting the pedal to the metal to make the final three. As Olympian Natalie says, “It’s almost like we’re getting to that big U.S.A. game at the end.”

Newly engaged Audrey, right, shows Meaghan her new sparkler.

Teams fly to Montreal from Paris, so the five-hour difference between the first-place Golden Girls and last-place West End Boys is fini. (Before they leave, though, Audrey take the opportunity to fill the other teams in on her and Alain’s big news. Amazing Race Canada themed wedding, anyone?) Once they land, the teams sprint through the airport to find the clue box, which directs them to the automobile testing facility Circuit iCar.

In the Road Block, one team member must complete a two-part precision driving challenge in a new Camaro SS: a quarter drift (a 90-degree fishtail manoeuvre) and a reverse 180-degree turn. While Alain is the first to suit up, the stuntman doesn’t have the moves behind the wheel and ends up taking the longest to complete the challenge.

Mickey is determined to nail the drifting challenge.

This leaves a lane open for Meaghan, who rips past the rest of the field to finish the challenge first. But Jinder isn’t far behind, and the two teams meet up at the next clue box outside the Atwater Market.

Besides the Detour clue, there’s a Fast Forward in there. The siblings decide to chance it and head to a local art gallery.

The GGs, meanwhile, must choose between Flamed (create five glass beads) and Grilled (identify the different cheeses used to make 10 types of grilled-cheese sandwiches). They go with cheese (duh!), as do all the other teams. Alain and Audrey, though, have a change of heart in the cab and switch to Flamed. And Rob and Ryan decide to give the Fast Forward a go.

Ryan and Rob pose during the Fast Forward challenge.

Arriving at the studio not too long after Sukhi and Jinder, they pick a pose and hold it while artists sketch their portrait.

No biggie, right? Uh, wrong! After a bit, they’re asked to strip down to their skivvies. Sukhi sweats it that she’s wearing a thong. Well, Sukhi, you won’t be for long! That’s ’cause the teams are then told to take it all off.

“Don’t look back,” Sukhi says, while her front-facing brother warns her, “Don’t look forward!” Eyes firmly on the prize (and not on anything else at all, nope, nothing at all), the pair finish the task and win the Fast Forward.

Jinder and Sukhi learn they have to go full Monty.

As Jinder points out, it’s only natural, seeing as it’s his birthday and he had to sport his birthday suit in the challenge. This leaves Rob and Ryan to scramble into their clothes and return to the Detour.

All is not lost, however, as the Golden Girls are still at the grill cheese station. Mickey and Pete have already left, having correctly matched the cheeses on their 11th try. (“It’s all Gouda,” quips Pete.) The GGs take longer, getting it right on their 10th try, just as Ryan and Rob arrive.

Over at the glass studio, Alain and Audrey are carefully crafting their beads, eventually making five that pass inspection. It’s enough to earn them fourth spot, behind Sukhi and Jinder, Mickey and Pete and Natalie and Meaghan. The first-place prize (a flight for two to Milan and $3,000 spending money) is a sweet birthday present for Jinder.

Teams sample grilled-cheese sandwiches during a challenge in Montreal.

But Ryan and Rob don’t give up, despite switching challenges after failing the grilled cheese test 32 times. They head to the glass studio and make those darned beads. Ryan, who battled testicular cancer as a 19-year-old, says the Race has rekindled his fire to live each day to the fullest. “Just do it all. You won’t regret anything,” he says.

So he and Rob give it their all and it pays off when host Jon Montgomery informs them that it’s a non-elimination leg. They’ll have to perform another Speed Bump in the next episode, when the Race heads to Charlottetown, P.E.I.

What do you think of yet another non-elimination leg? Are you glad that the Race is back in Canada? Have you saved up enough money to cover your therapy bill for that naked siblings segment? Share your thoughts below and we’ll see you back here next week for some East Coast flavour!

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-sukhi-and-jinder-get-naked-on-the-amazing-race-canada/feed0w-sukhi and jinder nakedrmylesNewly engaged Audrey, right, shows Meaghan her new sparkler.Mickey is determined to nail the drifting challenge.Ryan and Rob pose during the Fast Forward challenge.Jinder and Sukhi learn they have to go full Monty.Teams sample grilled-cheese sandwiches during a challenge in Montreal.Ruth Myles: A sweet challenge turns sour for one team in Paris on The Amazing Race Canadahttp://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-a-sweet-challenge-turns-sour-for-one-team-in-paris-on-the-amazing-race-canada
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-a-sweet-challenge-turns-sour-for-one-team-in-paris-on-the-amazing-race-canada#commentsWed, 27 Aug 2014 02:02:14 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=85660]]>This week’s episode of The Amazing Race Canada could have been super-sized what with all the shenanigans, switcheroos and smooching going on.

Two U-turn are unleashed (shattering that kind Canuck stereotype), a sweet challenge turns sour and one team makes a life-changing decision on the banks of the Seine, so let’s get to it, shall we?

The six remaining teams travel from Normandy to Paris on two trains: Meaghan and Natalie, Pierre and Michel, and Mickey and Pete are on the first; Alain and Audrey, Sukhi and Jinder and Ryan and Rob are an hour behind on Train 2.

Before they leave, though, the two teams from Quebec (A&A and the twins) make a deal not to U-Turn each other. But once they’re on board the train, the twins have a change of heart. When Michel asks his brother what he wants do do vis a vis the U-Turn, without missing a beat Pierre says, “Alain and Audrey, that’s my first pick.”

To the cameras later, Michel says that “for sure” the couple would u-turn the brothers. “We love Quebec, but we came here to win,” Pierre says to the camera. What, the I didn’t come here to make friends wasn’t good enough for the final edit? Let the double-crossing begin!

Mickey and Pete realize they have gone to the wrong location on The Amazing Race Canada.

Mickey and Pete, however, have their own French rebellion brewing. They’re second to rip the clue at the Arc de Triomphe, but they tell the cabbie to take them to Place des Canada, rather than the Place du Canada. The difference between des and du? D’oh! about two hours of driving and a $300 cab fare, give or take a few Euros.

(Here’s an interesting tidbit: I was on location for the filming of this episode, courtesy of CTV. And Mickey and Pete’s cab pulled up directly behind us in the traffic circle outside the Arc de Triomphe. While long hair, don’t care were out scurrying around the area, searching for the clue box, I watched their cabbie. He held a 50 Euro bill in his hand as he scanned the area. It looked like he wasn’t sure if he should stay or he should go. Things would have gone even better for the lads if he had taken the money and run.)

Mickey gets out of his cab in Paris.

But hold up: once the other teams finish their chosen task in the Detour, they have an opportunity to U-Turn another duo. Front-runners Nat and Meaghan pass, but the next team up, Michel and Pierre, make good on their vow to take out Alain and Audrey. And Sukhi and Jinder U-Turn Rob and Ryan after narrowly beating them to the placard.

The twins U-Turn Alain and Audrey on The Amazing Race Canada.

This means the two nominated teams have to go back and do the other Detour task before moving on to the Road Block. (Ryan and Rob also have to complete a Speed Bump – learning how to play La Claire du la Lune on the accordion and performing it on the street.)

Normally, this would set up the two trailing teams to duke it out for last place. But the candy-themed Road Block is turning sour for one team. One team member must recreate a work of Parisian street artist Bastek . . . with about 1,400 variously coloured Mentos. And while Meaghan cranks through it in one hour, 36 minutes, Michel is stalling out, despite arriving at the challenge in second place.

Pierre and Meaghan talk about the Double U-Turn as a crew films them for The Amazing Race Canada.

At one point, all the teams except the Golden Girls are labouring at the task on the Ile aux Cygnes. The cameras show a bit of the confrontation between Alain and Audrey and the twins, but having been there during the filming of the episode, I can say the trash talking went on for a good long while. (At one point, there were three camera teams filming the spat.)

Ryan and Rob are less-than-impressed with Sukhi and Jinder’s U-Turning them as well, but the siblings finish the challenge not long after the West End Boys arrive, so there’s less time for drama. Pierre, however, has nothing but time on his hands as his brother struggles to get the artwork right. Teams eventually get the candies in the correct position and leave for the Pit Stop: first the Golden Girls, then Sukhi and Jinder, then Mickey and Pete, Alaine and Audrey, and finally Ryan and Rob (who arrived at the task four and a half hours after the twins).

Sukhi, left, and Michel work on their artwork during a challenge in Paris.

While Natalie and Meaghan receive a trip for two to Europe and $3,000 for their win, Audrey gets a prize of another kind when she and Alain arrive at the Pit Stop on the banks of the Seine. Alain drops down on one knee and proposes. “No, you’re not!” Audrey exclaims, looking at host Jon Montgomery for confirmation. “No, you’re not! Is this happening?”

“Right now, you are teaching me to love. You are teaching me compassion,” Alain says from bended knee. “The one mistake I don’t want to do is spending the rest of my life without you.” As Audrey whispers, “I love you,” Alain asks her to marry him in French. “You’re crazy!” she says, but she also says yes.

Alain proposes to Audrey on the banks of the Seine. (Yes, that is Notre Dame in the background.)

She accepts the ring he picked out with the help of her sister and that he’s been carrying in his backpack since the Race started and they seal the deal with a kiss.

Next week, the teams return to Canada via Alain and Audrey’s hometown of Montreal. We’ll see if that gives them an advantage that they can use to unseat the Olympians. What do you think of Michel and Pierre’s decision to unleash the U-Turn on Alain and Audrey? Is it a case of all is fair in love and The Amazing Race Canada or is the U-Turn an unnecessary evil? Share your thoughts below.

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-a-sweet-challenge-turns-sour-for-one-team-in-paris-on-the-amazing-race-canada/feed0w-proposal ringrmylesMickey and Pete realize they have gone to the wrong location on The Amazing Race Canada.Mickey gets out of his cab in Paris.The twins U-Turn Alain and Audrey on The Amazing Race Canada.Pierre and Meaghan talk about the Double U-Turn as a crew films them for The Amazing Race Canada.Sukhi, left, and Michel work on their artwork during a challenge in Paris.Alain proposes to Audrey on the banks of the Seine. (Yes, that is Notre Dame in the background.)Ruth Myles: Teams are lost in Fraaaance on The Amazing Race Canadahttp://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-teams-are-lost-in-fraaaance-on-the-amazing-race-canada
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-teams-are-lost-in-fraaaance-on-the-amazing-race-canada#commentsWed, 20 Aug 2014 02:02:48 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=85399]]>Welcome to The Amazing Race Canada goes to Normandy! Or, as I like to call it, Lost in Fraaance!

Ryan has his own title: “If Ryan and Rob had a French travel show, it would be called ‘Getting Lost and Hating Yourself.’ ” Rob thinks it should be called “Taking the Long Way in France with Ryan and Rob.” (I think Ryan’s is snappier, don’t you?”

Rob and Ryan stop for directions . . . again.

For all the reality-TV silliness and staples on display, though, there’s real heart in this week’s episode as the teams travel to Juno Beach, one of the allied landing sites on D-Day. Canadian veteran Jim Parks is the greeter at the Pit Stop, which is located about 150 yards from where he came ashore as a 19-year-old soldier during the invasion on June 4, 1944.

When Meaghan and Natalie, winners of the leg, thank him for what he did for our country, the 89-year-old Parks says, “Makes you proud to be a Canadian, right?” And cue tissues. (As if you weren’t crying already. If you want to know more about Parks and why the show wanted to highlight Canadian history in the area, click here.)

Give the makers of The Amazing Race Canada their due: these guys know what they’re doing in an episode that’s dedicated to “the brave men and women who served in the Canadian Armed Forces during D-Day, World War II and throughout history,” as Jon Montgomery says. It’s a solid episode from the perspective of the Race, with the team standings going through a shake up, but with the added emotional resonance of what happened in the area 70 years ago. (And I’m not just saying that because they brought me to France so I could follow the show on its second trip overseas. Read all about how the show is made here.)

The teams start the leg in Winnipeg, making the 7,000-kilometres-plus journey to Paris via Toronto. They catch cabs at the airport and travel to the outskirts of Paris to pick up their cars. This is when things get interesting. The French drive on the right side of the road, but that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. There are roundabouts everywhere and the driving is aggressive, to put it kindly.

Meaghan can’t figure out what she’s doing wrong at the Calvados challenge.

Some teams handle the transition with ease (Natalie and Meaghan, Michel and Pierre, Mickey and Pete reach the first location 1,2,3), while the rest of the field struggle to find their way at multiple spots along the way. Once they reach the Boulard Calvados Distillery, one member of each team has to dilute aged apple brandy to the required 40 percent alcohol content in a Road Block.

And while it sounds fun – booze! – there is more than a little math involved. Plus, the competitors can only glean info from watching a demonstration, no talking allowed. Meaghan loses the Golden Girls’ pole position when she takes six tries to get the formula right (she was using the wrong instruments in certain steps), while Pierre nails it on his first try to take the lead.

Jinder also whizzes through the task, putting that degree in molecular biology to use and claiming second place. And speaking of degrees, jaws hit the floor when it comes out that Mickey, our bubble-headed beach blond, has a degree in accounting. Pete tells the camera that his partner just plays dumb, and he doesn’t know why. Us either! Also, Pete shares, “I hate numbers. They’re not my friends.” But Mickey is, right brah?

Michel, left, and Pierre decide they are not the mane men.

“We are leaving behind everyone except Ryan and Rob who are, I think, their way to Spain,” Pierre says to the camera after they hightail it out of there. (Close. At one point, the soundman in Ryan and Rob’s car tells the rest of the crew that he thinks he can see Mount Fuji, so . . .) But you can only hide booze from a pair of bartenders for so long and the two West End Boys finally pull into Calvados. Rob is watching the demo as Jinder and Sukhi head out the door with their clue. “Ferme la bouche!” Ryan yells at the siblings as they make their noisy exit.

Lucky for the bartenders that Pete also sucks at figuring out which tools to use, just like Meaghan did. Ryan has a eureka moment when he says, “Why is that all weird?” and 3, 2, 1: “The tools are different sizes. Oh, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it.” And just like that, it’s one and done. Pete, meanwhile, is all “I have no idea what I am doing wrong” on his eighth attempt. Then Ryan, either out of the kindness of his heart or blindly not realizing he is giving his closest competitor vital info, points out the gauges are different sizes. Oh, and this is how it all works!

Meaghan and Natalie tackle the challenge at Bayeux.

When the teams reach the Detour, they must choose between Tell It and Show It. The former involves travelling to the nearby town of Bayeux and placing reproductions of the famous Bayeux Tapestry in the correct order to accompanying clues. The latter requires teams to travel to a nearby Percheron farm and French braiding a horse’s mane with ribbon.

The brothers choose Show It, given that they grew up on a farm and had a horse, but once they’re doing the task, they realize it’s not their thing. So, they switch it up and head to the tapestry instead. Sukhi and Jinder also choose Show It, as do Alain and Audrey, Mickey and Pete and Ryan and Rob (once they can find the place, of course). Natalie and Meaghan go with Tell It from the start, and it pays off, big time. They leapfrog from third to first. They’re out of Bayeux before the brothers arrive, so the brothers think they’ve got the lead, not the Golden Girls.

Pete holds their horse steady while Mickey works his magic.

Although Sukhi and Jinder arrive at the task after Alain and Audrey, Sukhi’s superior braiding skills push them to third place. Audrey and Alain aren’t too far behind, but run into major problems trying to locate the beach sailing task in Asnelles.

And will wonders never cease? Not only is Mickey an accountant (I’m still processing that. You?), he took cosmetology in high school and knows his way around a braid. Hands up viewers who would watch Mickey braid his own hair, or, a la Chris Pratt, the locks of someone else during an on-camera interview?

Over in Asnelles, Nat and Meaghan are having a blast navigating their wheeled sailboats around the course laid out on the sand. They really get moving, so much so that one of them tips their vessel. How windy is it? Well, when a group of local grade-school kids went by just before the Golden Girls hit the beach, about half of them were wearing ski goggles to protect their eyes during a clamming expedition.

JInder rides the wind in the beach sailing challenge.

Michel and Pierre also make short work of the task, as do Sukhi and Jinder, and Mickey and Pete. Ou et Alain and Audrey, you ask? Well, they’re lost. And Rob and Ryan are too, once again, as soon as they finish braiding that horse’s mane.

The teams visit Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, walking amongst the 2,049 headstones and are moved at what they see. “People look at Olympic athletes and think they’re heroes, but what we do does not even come close to what Canadian soldiers have done for us and continue to do for us,” Meaghan says. Michel and Pierre are also touched at vising the gravesite, as is Sukhi and Jinder. Mickey and Pete wonder at the ages of the dead, many of them younger than their own 24 years. “They paid the ultimate sacrifice so we could live the lives we are living right now,” Mickey marvels.

Pierre, left, and Michel salute a soldier at the Juno Beach Centre.

The teams bring a poppy from the cemetery to a young soldier at the Juno Beach Centre in the small town of Courseulles-sur-Mer. He accepts it and directs them down to the beach to the Pit Stop where they are greeted by Jon and Jim Parks.

There are tears all around as Jon welcomes the Golden Natalie and Meaghan reclaim the first-place finish and win a trip for two to Europe and $3,000. Michel and Pierre are second, but are content with it. “We would have liked to win today, but when you walk on these beaches,” Pierre shrugs, “it’s something else. A lot of people sacrificed their lives.”

Ryan, left, and Rob learn that it’s a non-elimination leg, so they’re safe for another week.

They’re followed by Mickey and Pete and Sukhi and Jinder. Alain and Audrey manage to make it to the mat before the light is gone, but the sun’s set when Rob and Ryan finally make it to the finish line. Luckily for them, it’s a non-elimination leg, so they are still in the running. As the Race heads to Paris, though, things take a turn on the dark side in the City of Light. And cue dramatic music!

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-teams-are-lost-in-fraaaance-on-the-amazing-race-canada/feed0w-JM and Jim Parks (2)rmylesRob and Ryan stop for directions . . . again.Meaghan can't figure out what she's doing wrong at the Calvados challenge.Michel, left, and Pierre decide they are not the mane men.Meaghan and Natalie tackle the challenge at Bayeux.Pete holds their horse steady while Mickey works his magic.JInder rides the wind in the beach sailing challenge.Pierre, left, and Michel salute a soldier at the Juno Beach Centre.Ryan, left, and Rob learn that it's a non-elimination leg, so they're safe for another week.Ruth Myles: Five things we learned about The Amazing Race Canada on After the Racehttp://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-five-things-we-learned-about-the-amazing-race-canada-on-after-the-race
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-five-things-we-learned-about-the-amazing-race-canada-on-after-the-race#commentsWed, 13 Aug 2014 04:16:27 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=85163]]>So, what did we learn from the five eliminated teams on After the Race, the one-hour special that aired Tuesday on CTV?

Some things we already knew – Rex and Bob can charm the pants off a Soviet border guard (maybe Rex has a story he could share?), Nicole is an awesome mom who never gives up, Cormac isn’t down with the #hotmom hashtag, seeing Sean separating his shoulder is just as cringe-worthy the sixth time around – but some new tidbits about the 11 teams competing on the second season of The Amazing Race Canada came to light on the special.

Here are five:

1. Laura and Jackie are better people than the rest of us paddling around in the snark pool. They don’t begrudge Olympians Meaghan and Natalie their multiple wins. “I feel like they are Canadian heroes. To see them in this light, really, they should be winning as much as they did,” Laura said. “Those were really, really tough legs.”

Nicole did allow that it was frustrating seeing the gold-medal winners in the front of the pack so much. That said, the eliminated teams were apparently high-fiving each other when they saw footage of the Golden Girls tanking in the hockey challenge and finishing the leg in fifth, according to host James Duthie.

2. Michel and Pierre are in it to win it, no matter what. “They had said to us at one point, ‘We are willing to do anything in this Race, anything. And even dirty plays,’ ” Nicole said. “So, we saw that. For them to get the Express Pass was disappointing.” This, of course, leads to a replay of the twins actively misleading Mickey and Pete on the streets of Macau. But not everyone has a hate-on for the brothers. “They’re not sitting here, so,” Jackie pointed out.

3. For all the talk of playing nice, some teams were working on an alliance targeting the Golden Girls. Cormac said he and his mom, Bob and Rex and Alain and Audrey talked about working together. “We wanted someone to take down Meg and Natalie, at least for one leg,” Cormac said. Bob added that on the return trip from Hong Kong, the three teams strategized in Vancouver about how to play a possible U-Turn.

James Duthie then points out that Sukhi and Jinder are the one team the rest of the field loves to actively dislike, given the siblings’ “help us, help us, help us!” chatter. Laura and Jackie, however, said they think highly of the pair. (See point No. 1)

4. That trip up the ramp Nabeela took at the dock at CFB Esquimalt? She got up and kept running, but it took eight stitches to close the gash on her knee once medics got a look at it. And that was only after her teammate Shahla had to get medical help after half her body went numb during the water-tank challenge. Props, ladies!

5. The Golden Girls, Mickey and Pete and Michel and Pierre are leading the contest that awards the most-voted-for team free gas for a year at Petro-Canada. What, where are Bob and Rex? Oh, that’s right: they took the penalty. Ba-da-boom! Thanks, folks, I’ll be here all month! Try the veal!

As for the exclusive preview of the rest of the season? Best I can tell, those are hits from next week’s episode, when The Amazing Race Canada heads to Normandy. Speaking of which, come back next week for my behind-the-scenes stories on running the Race in France. I tagged along with the cast and crew during filming and have the scoop on what you don’t see on TV.

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-five-things-we-learned-about-the-amazing-race-canada-on-after-the-race/feed0w-bob and rex pierogiesrmylesRuth Myles: Which fan favourites went home on The Amazing Race Canada this week?http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-which-fan-favourites-went-home-on-the-amazing-race-canada-this-week
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-which-fan-favourites-went-home-on-the-amazing-race-canada-this-week#commentsWed, 13 Aug 2014 02:01:00 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=85148]]>Another week, another fan-favourite team kicked to the curb on The Amazing Race Canada.

But first: France! It seems China left the series’ producers hungry for more international adventure, so next week the remaining teams will jet off to Normandy. (And come back next week for behind-the-scenes stories from on location.)

Sadly, Rex and Bob won’t be among them, as the always-ready-with-a-quick-quip couple are last to the mat in this week’s episode. What makes it sadder? They think they are in third place.

Rex and Bob learn that no, they’re not in third, they’re in last place.

Their confusion is understandable, seeing as not only a Fast Pass, but an Express Pass came into play, which results in teams hopscotching around the leaderboard. But how does the most quotable team on the Race – “Sweet mother of Cher! I can’t seeeee!” still ranks as my fave, but I know people love last week’s “Who designs these torture tests: Satan?” – come to bid us adieu?

It’s a level playing field once again as all teams make their way from Whitehorse to Winnipeg (via Vancouver) on the same flight. Once on the ground, they cab it to the Royal Canadian Mint, where they have to correctly match 10 coins with the flags of the originating countries. Six of the teams arrive at roughly the same time, while Sukhi and Jinder get a tour of Winnipeg courtesy of their clueless cabbie.

But no matter: the siblings whip through the challenge, moving up to second place behind (who else?) Natalie and Meaghan. Teams race to the Detour: Puck It or Pinch It? The former involves lacing up at the MTS Centre and putting five pucks past a cardboard goalie in designated slots, including the “notoriously difficult five hole,” host Jon Montgomery intones seriously. Now, is this a real thing or did it come about because of what’s about to happen. (I’m Canadian back to the 1800s, but know nada about hockey.) In Pinch It, teams travel to a local church basement and have to produce 74 pinched potato vessels that satisfy the eagle eye of Pierogi Poohbah Helen.

Bob and Rex get busy pinching those pierogies.

Natalie and Meaghan choose Puck It (of course), pooh poohing the very notion of the Fast Forward. “Obviously we go with the hockey challenge,” Meaghan says in the cab on the way to the rink. “It’s kind of a challenge made for us,” Natalie agrees. Remember that in about 30 minutes, ladies.

Sukhi and Jinder also pass on the Fast Forward, because the Golden Girls took it (of course) they surmise. Third-place team Alain and Audrey follow the same logic . . . until they get to the dressing rooms and realize no one has made a move for the FF. They hoof it out of there, gambling they can get to the Fast Pass and get ‘er done before anyone else.

While Rex and Bob and Rob and Ryan are pinching pierogies (not a euphemism) in the basement, all the other teams are on the ice. And lo and behold: the sparkle on the Golden Girls is starting to tarnish. Pierre and Michel, who get to the rink fifth, blast past them into first place. Zut alors! The trouble is that darned five-hole. Or, as the girls now think of it, that darned #$@! Hole.

Michel enjoys the trouble Meaghan and Natalie (not pictured) are having hitting the five hole.

“It’s just the most epic thing ever to watch gold medal Olympians keep missing,” Jinder says with obvious delight, before his sister finishes with “over and over and over!” Heck, Sukhi – who has never been on skates before or played hockey – and her brother take 39 shots to get the challenge done. Meaghan (TWO gold medals here) and Natalie take a head-hanging 57, after going four for four at the start.

“It’s the stick, I’m blaming the stick,” Meaghan says. Everyone take a shot of maple syrup and have a moment of silence for the eternal shame these two will feel for pucking up the challenge that badly.

Over at the Fast Forward, Alain and Audrey are scouring a six-square-block radius for historical business signs painted on the signs of buildings. They’re trying to fill in the blanks on seven business names, at which point they’ll be given the FP, allowing them to bypass all challenges and hit the Pit Stop.

Rex belts it out during the song challenge in Winnipeg.

Speaking of bypassing, Michel and Pierre are third to arrive at the next task, a Road Block. In it, one team member has to learn the lyrics to a rock song and perform it onstage at local nightclub Whisky Dix. Michel reads the lyrics and is overwhelmed at all that English. “It’s all the same song?” he asks Natalie and Mickey who are practicing their best rock-star routines.

And out comes the Express Pass. The twins hand it over and skip to the Pit Stop. They are first to reach the top of the 100-metre tall Hope Tower at the soon-to-be-opened Canadian Museum for Human Rights. For their efforts, they’re rewarded with $3,000 and an all-inclusive trip to Los Cabos, Mexico.

Pierre, left, and Michel decide to use the Express Pass to skip the song challenge in Winnipeg.

But the hunt is still on for the rest of the pack. “Those look good enough to eat, hey Helen?” Bob says to the Pierogi Poohbah, as he’s dubbed her. Helen throws him some church lady shade and informs him that only 30 of his and Rex’s creations are sour-cream worthy. Back to the long tables and fold-up chairs!

Rob and Ryan suffer a similar fate, as 37 of their pierogies pass muster. “We have to start seducing Helen a little more,” Rex says. One of the church ladies hears of this new plan and decides, “I like his style.” This only shores up my argument that Rex and Bob need their own reality series. Even church ladies love these guys! And if we can’t get it to series, perhaps a one-off wedding special?

At the nightclub, the Racers are still singing for their supper, but Mickey channels his inner rock star (seriously, dude, you’ve got the hair for the gig; no need for a wig) and gets out of their on his fifth try. Jinder also has some inner rock-god thing going on. “The second I put his outfit on,” he says of his skin-tight leopard-print pants, jean vest and black wig, “I just lost a nut! Something just turned on in my head and I turned into this ‘Yeaaaahhhhh!!!’ I couldn’t control it.” Four tries later, he’s on his way out the door.

Oh, Mickey you’re so fine . . . ?

Bob and Rex and Ryan and Rob are last to the party, but once Rob puts on his eyeliner and wiggles into those Lycra pants, there is no stopping the West End Boy. “You’re born with it!” the clue giver exclaims after Rob nails the task (if not any of the notes) on his first try.

Rex gives it his all (as his gravelly voice attests), but it takes him five tries to get the words right. (That hot-pink top totes made his blue eyes pop, though. Small mercies.) Since they saw the Golden Girls leaving the club as they arrived, the couple assumes they are in third. Makes sense: the gold-medal hockey players must have aced the hockey challenge; and Ryan and Rob left before them, so . . . third it is!

They don’t know, however, that the GGs tanked at hockey and Alain and Audrey used the Fast Forward to claim second spot. Mickey and Pete claim third, with Sukhi and Jinder moving up to fourth. Then came the Golden Girls in fifth, with Ryan and Rob in sixth.

Bob looks on as Rex dips prima ballerina Amanda Green at the Pit Stop in Winnipeg.

When they finally make it to the mat (climbing that Tower of Hope, BTW, involves almost one kilometre of ramps and stairs), Jon tells them that they are in last place. “Really?” they both reply as Bob’s jaw drops, his mouth forming an O of surprise.

“We always entertained the notion that somewhere we might get eliminated, but we thought we would know it,” Bob says in their exit interview. And as a lovely farewell, Rex takes prima ballerina Andrea Green in his arms at the mat and performs a graceful pas de deux.

Next week, it’s off to France. And I’ll have a special behind-the-scenes peek at the making of The Amazing Race Canada as it storms Normandy. CTV brought me along on the Race to share some of the moments you will never see on TV and details on how the Race is run.

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-which-fan-favourites-went-home-on-the-amazing-race-canada-this-week/feed0w-Jinder rocks itrmylesRex and Bob learn that no, they're not in third, they're in last place.Bob and Rex get busy pinching those pierogies.Michel enjoys the trouble Meaghan and Natalie (not pictured) are having getting the puck in the five hole.Rex belts it out during the song challenge in Winnipeg.Pierre, left, and Michel decide to use the Express Pass to skip the song challenge in Winnipeg.Oh, Mickey you're so fine . . . ?Bob looks on as Rex dips prima ballerina Amanda Green at the Pit Stop in Winnipeg.Ruth Myles: It's Yukon, ho! as The Amazing Race Canada heads northhttp://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-its-yukon-ho-as-the-amazing-race-canada-heads-north
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-its-yukon-ho-as-the-amazing-race-canada-heads-north#commentsWed, 06 Aug 2014 02:10:02 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=84914]]>Hands up, everyone who shed a tear at the end of this week’s episode of The Amazing Race Canada. (Jon Montgomery, I’m looking at you!)

Whether you were crying at Nicole’s never-say-die gumption or the topsy-turvy order the teams finished in is totally up to you. (Perhaps some of you were still grieving last week’s non-elimination leg that kept Sukhi and Jinder in the hunt.)

Once again the playing field is levelled as the eight remaining teams travel from Hong Kong to Vancouver, then on to the Yukon. The 12,000-kilometer flight across eight time zones gives Natalie and Meaghan time to think about who should get that coveted Express Pass.

Bob, left, Rex and Ryan are less than impressed with who got the Express Pass.

While handing it to twins Pierre and Michel came as no surprise to viewers, the other racers’ jaws literally dropped when they heard the news. We’ve seen the teams working together; the other competitors haven’t. Also on the non-sharesies list: how Michel and Pierre actively misdirected two other teams during a challenge in Macau. As Bob snipes: the twins have been “playing dirty.” But the largesse came with strings attached: the twins can’t U-Turn the Golden Girls and the brothers have to use the U-Turn on another team if they are hot on the heels of Meaghan and Natalie.

Once in the Yukon, the teams overnight in the Sky High Wilderness Ranch, which, despite its name, is located just off 5th Avenue in Whitehorse. They all come running when the breakfast bells rings, and are handed clues for their troubles. (And a juice box if they’re so inclined.)

Meaghan, right, takes a tumble during the dogsled challenge.

Riiip! It’s Detour time: Ride a Sled or Make Your Bed. The first requires duos to run 1.5 km to Fish Lake, harness a team of three dogs and ride their sled six times around a course on the frozen lake. The latter involves hiking to a site in the woods, recreating a set-up campsite and building a fire to melt a block of ice, freeing the key frozen inside.

Teams are split evenly between the tasks, but Michel and Pierre switch from sled to bed when they realize they’ve forgotten a dog’s name, so will have to run an extra three km to get it and then return to the lake. The Golden Girls do the same gaffe, but as they consider the 1.5 clicks a “morning jaunt” they stick with the sled. (Jinder refers to it as the run of his life, so . . .)

Over at the campsite, it’s a toss-up as to which is the more amusing: Bob and Rex’s ongoing spat over pretty much everything – “Of course you’re right dear. You’re always right Bob!” Rex fumes — or Mickey and Pete’s overconfidence on setting up their camp. “We usually do it in the dark when we’re drunk,” Pete confides. But wait! We have a winner: The Muskoka Boys totes try to Mrs. Robinson Nicole. “Kidding, Cormac!” Pete calls over after asking if Nicole wants to spend the night in their tent. “Totally not,” Mickey adds. Then, in a camera confessional filmed later in the day, Mickey says, “She’s gorgeous.” “Hot mom,” Pete confirms.

Hey ladies, check out Pete’s pop-up . . . tent.

Rob and Ryan whiz through the dog-sled challenge, while Sukhi and Jinder and Meaghan and Nat run into some hang-ups. Alain and Audrey can’t get their dogs to mush for Pete’s sake. For their part, Sukhi and Jinder fall into their SOP of pestering other teams for info on how to complete the challenge. Rob and Ryan advise them to go look at the example, LIKE THEY DID.

Coming out of the Detour, it’s Ryan and Rob in the lead, followed by Natalie and Meaghan, Alain and Audrey and Nicole and Cormac. Then it’s Mickey and Pete and Sukhi and Jinder, with Pierre and Michel and Rex and Bob in the rear. But Sukhi and Jinder have to complete a Speed Bump before they move on to the upcoming Road Block. They have to attach a trailer to pickup, drive it to different location and then back the trailer into a designated spot. She gets the first two parts no worries, but gives up the driver’s seat to her brother for the last bit.

Despite his outdoorsy background, Pete had a tough time with the biathlon challenge.

Despite the extra task, the siblings come into the Road Block in sixth position. In the task, one team member must bike a challenging 1-km bike course through the woods before shooting at five targets 50 metres down range. They get five bullets each round, but if they miss, they have to do another circuit on the bike. Once all targets have been hit, they get their next clue.

Just making it around the course is difficult. “Oh, my legs are going to fall off. God these hills!” Rob says half-way through his first go round. As for the shooting, it’s easy pickings: Alain hits five out of five his first try and Natalie takes two rounds to get ‘er done, as do Rob and Sukhi (who’s never held a gun in her life). But Pete, who has been shooting since he was a tyke, runs into difficulty, taking eight turns to finish the task. “I’m never going to be able to go to my hunt camp again,” he laments.

Nicole tries to keep it together during the biathlon challenge.

Nicole wishes she had it that easy. It takes her 13 tries to hit one target. She’s discouraged, but won’t give up. “You didn’t start this not to finish it, okay?” she whispers to herself while lying prone on the range, readying to shoot again. She doesn’t quit, but nor does she hit another target until her 21st try. Finally on attempt 22, she completes the task.

Of course, by then it’s too late. Alain and Audrey have taken first place, ending the four-leg winning streak of Meaghan and Natalie. The couple from Quebec receive a trip for two to a sun destination serviced by Rouge, and $3,000 spending money. Rob and Ryan are a very close second, followed by Natalie and Meaghan and Sukhi and Jinder. Then it’s Michel and Pierre, followed by Mickey and Pete and Bob and Rex.

Sukhi and Jinder switch directions after figuring out they were canoeing upstream.

When Cormac and Nicole arrive at the Pit Stop after canoeing down the Yukon River (down the river, Sukhi and Jinder, not UP), Jon informs them their race is done. And cue water works! The mother-son team are so supportive of each other it’s sweet.

Next week, the Race heads to Winnipeg, where the teams once again take to the ice, this time on skates. What did you think of the show’s return to Canada? Are Rex and Bob as entertaining as I think they are, or are they grating on your last nerve? How about Sukhi and Jinder? Come back Wednesday morning for my exit interview with Nicole and Cormac; and next week for the recap when the show swings through Winnipeg. And there will be some bonus content, too: I will recap the midseason special, After the Race, which airs following next week’s episode.

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-its-yukon-ho-as-the-amazing-race-canada-heads-north/feed1w-Roby and Ryan in sledrmylesBob,left, Rex and Ryan are less than impressed with who got the Express Pass.Meaghan, right, takes a tumble during the dogsled challenge.Hey ladies, check out my pop-up . . . tent.Despite his outdoorsman background, Pete had a tough time with the biathlon challenge.Nicole tries to keep it together during the biathlon challenge.Sukhi and Jinder switch directions after figuring out they were canoeing upstream on the Yukon River.Ruth Myles: Who bungee jumped in their undies on The Amazing Race Canada?http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-who-bungee-jumped-in-their-undies-on-the-amazing-race-canada
http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-who-bungee-jumped-in-their-undies-on-the-amazing-race-canada#commentsWed, 30 Jul 2014 02:12:35 +0000http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/?p=84519]]>Hey, have you guys seen this awesome new TV show that follows Olympic gold medallists Natalie Spooner and Meaghan Mikkelson as they travel the world, taking on new and interesting challenges every week? Last week they were in Hong Kong; this week’s it’s Macau.

Spoiler alert: it’s called The Amazing Race Canada, but you’d be forgiven for thinking the title was Natalie and Meaghan’s Amazing Race, since the gold medal hockey players are four for four when it comes to hitting the Pit Stop first.

Yup, another week, another win for The Terminators. That’s not to say there wasn’t good TV in between the time Meaghan and Natalie started the leg in first and then finished the leg in first, but somewhere, a casting director is weeping. I get why the producers wanted the pair on the show: they’re two of the golden girls of the Canadian sports scene, they have instant name recognition and, let’s face it, they aren’t hard to look at. (I would say the same if they cast Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash. A girl can dream, right?)

Meaghan prepares to launch herself from the Macau Tower.

But there’s a flip side to casting elite athletes fresh off a winning season: the two are among the best in the world at what they do. And what they do is play as a team member in a physically demanding sport with their eyes always – ALWAYS – on the end game: winning. Make no mistake about it, those two are beasts. Want proof? They’ve won every single leg of the Race that they’ve run. They’re half-way to equalling the record wins posted in a single season by Dave and Rachel Brown on the 20th season of The Amazing Race.

Now you know how the Golden Girls did, let’s find out how the other seven teams are faring, shall we? We catch up with the gang in Hong Kong, where Meaghan and Natalie start the leg an hour ahead of second-place finishers Cormac and Nicole. No worries, though: all the teams are taking one of two high-speed ferries to Macau leaving 30 minutes apart.

There are fireworks at the first stop, a temple built in 1488. Literally, fireworks. But there’s some drama first: at the cab stand in Macau, Meaghan and Nat jump the line. Granted, they do it in the most Canadian of ways – by asking those in line if they can go in front of them – but still. Michel and Pierre try the same gambit, but without the polite ask. Nicole, now near the front of the line, sends them packing.

Once they get to A-Ma Temple, the teams light strings of fireworks and stand by while they go off. It’s loud, but not very challenging. But the next clue directs them to Macau Tower, and this is when things get interesting.

In what has to be one of the craziest Road Blocks on any Amazing Race, one member from each team has to bungee jump off the tower, all 233 metres of it. After being kitted out in safety gear, Meaghan is the first to go, jumping (okay, falling) off the edge of the platform.

While she gets through it with relative ease, others have a tad harder time, including Cormac, Rex (who sucks it up and gets it done, to his credit, and with lovely extension, BTW) and Jinder. Mickey, though, is at the other end of the spectrum.

Oh Mickey, you’re so fine . . Uh, wait up. Those are your undies?

“I get there, and it’s ‘Empty your pockets.’ Right away, I whip my pants off. Because, y’know, that’s the fastest way to empty your pockets.” And God bless his little blond head if he’s not right. But that animal-print banana hammock he’s sporting as he plummets to the ground? So, so wrong.

There was a partial moon over Macau when Mickey bungee jumped.

The Olympians, meanwhile, are having little luck locating almond cookies in a store on Happiness Street. They team up with twins Michel and Pierre to increase their odds of success, but the twins have another motive: they’ve got their eyes on the Golden Girls’ remaining Express Pass. They flat out ask for it, but the girls will only say they are “seriously, seriously considering it.” But if things don’t go the twins’ way, it could be curtains for the girls!

“If Natalie and Meaghan doesn’t give us the Express Pass by the end of this leg tomorrow, they will be U-Turned,” Pierre tells the camera. What? No moustache twirl or glinting monocle? If you’re going villain, go all the way, dude!

Pierre, left, and Michel put their best feet forward in Macau.

Once they find the clue, teams must choose between the Detour tasks of Stomp It (learning and performing a Macanese folk dance) and Stamp It (finding six “shrines” in the narrow, twisting streets and stamping a scroll with a symbol from each location). The dancing is tougher than it seems, with even Rex taking multiple attempts to get it right.

But it does give us such gems as “Do you want to be the girl or the boy?” (Meaghan to Natalie), “All I’m thinking is everyone at the National Ballet is going to be watching me, going, ‘I can’t believe you can’t pick up eight, eight, spin four, spin four, stomp, ye haw’ (not sure if that last term is correct, but I still have the Stampede stuck in my head and that’s what I heard)” (Rex on not picking up the folk dance right away) and “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! I can’t do this.” (Mickey, who not too long before uttering this threw himself off a platform 233 metres in the air.)

Looking for clues: Jinder can’t see what’s right in front of him.

While the leaders are swingin’ their partners ‘round and ‘round, the back of the pack is having troubles finding that darned clue on Happiness Street. Jinder gets a gold star for not once, but TWICE cluelessly standing in front of the clue box spouting forehead slappers like, “I feel like we’re missing something. Let’s just pray for wisdom or something.” My suggestion for “or something”? The power of observation. Or glasses. Either would suffice.

Along with the siblings, Alain and Audrey and Mickey and Pete choose Stamp It, and stay in the rear through the next challenge in which the duos must decipher the game of fan-tan. We learn that in addition to being a card, Bob knows his cards: at the age of 13, his family taught him how to gamble. “That’s what we would do on Christmas Day after we opened our presents: we’d sit and gamble.”

He and Rex get through the gambling challenge with ease, but Natalie and Meaghan have already arrived at the Pit Stop, winning two flights to Tokyo and $3,000. Lots of teams are struggling to figure out how fan-tan is played so they can run the gambling board and get the clue to the Pit Stop.

Mickey, left, Bob and Rex observe a fan-tan game in action in Macau.

Sukhi and Jinder fall back on their standard operating procedure: asking other teams for help. And the other teams fall back on their SOP: saying no. Or, in the words of Rex to Sukhi’s request to tell her how the game works: “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go. No, no, no, no, no! Go, go, go, go!”

The brother-and-sister team are at panic level, however, and don’t get the message. They are in a tie for last place in the fan-tan room when Sukhi asks Audrey, who is still trying to complete the challenge, to tell them how to do it. “I’m not going to tell you. We’re not even there yet!” Audrey says, to which Jinder replies, “Please?” Oy vey!

Ryan and Rob, meanwhile, rocket up the standings to second place, followed by Rex and Bob and Nicole and Cormac. Next come Pierre and Michel, then Mickey and Pete and Alain and Audrey. Sukhi and Jinder breathe a sigh of relief when they learn that this is a non-elimination leg, so they live to see another week.

And it looks like we can expect more fireworks next week, as Meghan and Natalie have to decide who to gift with their remaining Express Pass. “Dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb,” Bob says, shaking his head in a promo for next week’s episode, which finds the teams returning to Canada.

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays on CTV.

]]>http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ruth-myles-who-bungee-jumped-in-their-undies-on-the-amazing-race-canada/feed0w-Jon with Macau TowerrmylesMeaghan prepares to launch herself from the Macau Tower.Host Jon Montgomery shows off some fireworks at A-Ma Temple in Macau.Oh Mickey, you're so fine . . Uh, wait up. Those are your undies?There was a partial moon over Macau when Mickey bungee jumped.Pierre, left, and Michel put their best feet forward in Macau.Looking for clues: Jinder can't see what's right in front of him.Bob, left, and Rex observe a fan-tan game in action.